Ok, maybe not world peace, but at least momentary joy and happiness. I have been toying with the idea of a chocolate filled vanilla cupcake for a while. As it happens I have a soft spot for cream filled cupcakes, considering one is now my logo, and it made sense that I try to make a reverse version.

The results were far better than I could have hoped. The vanilla bean, aside from tasting fantastic, gave the finished cake and frosting some interest. Yes, white is pretty but it can be a bit dull. When I fed these cupcakes to my crack team of taste-testers they had no idea of the chocolaty goodness lurking inside. You have never seen so many delighted smiles.

Heat the oven to 350 F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well blended.

In a small bowl cream together the butter and sugar until well combined and lighter in color. Add the eggs and whisk until completely incorporated into the butter mixture. Whisk in the buttermilk.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and whisk until just combined and no large lumps remain. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when pressed gently in the center.

Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for five minutes then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

In a small bowl combine all of the ingredients for the filling and whisk until completely mixed. Place the filling into a pastry bag fitted with a medium sized star tip.

Once the cakes are cooled completely take a small paring knife and poke it into the center of the cupcake in a cross pattern about 1 inch deep. Take the pastry bag and place the tip into the cross and pipe in about one tablespoon of filling, or until the filling just starts to come out of the hole. Clean off the tops of the cupcakes before frosting.

In a medium bowl combine the butter and vanilla bean paste. Add the powdered sugar and ¾ of the milk. Whisk to combine. If the frosting seems stiff add the remaining milk. Frost the cupcakes as desired.

Your cupcake are gorgeous!! I never knew to cut a small “x” in the top of the cupcake before filling. Great tip. I am a huge fan of the vanilla bean flecks from the vanilla bean paste! So pretty.

http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com Maria

I love the hidden filling and the cupcake wrappers are super cute!

http://www.howsweeteats.com Jessica @ How Sweet It Is

This is just a sin!

They look absolutely amazing.

tara

looks amazing! i cant wait to try to make them!

but…i bake for a vegetarian (my boyfriend) and i think marshmallow fluff has gelatin in it…any substitution suggestions?

http://www.fromcupboardtocupboard.blogspot.com teauna

These look GREAT! I am going to make them now for my daycare kids! What a perfect treat to be waiting on the counter for my hungry munchkins when they get home from school! Thank you!!!
P.S. I love vanilla bean paste! It’s wonderful!

http://simplemornings.blogspot.com amy

sometimes, all we need is a little simplicity and these cupcakes are simple goodness:)

spants

tara – marshmallow fluff doesn’t have gelatin. only marshmallows. I know b/c my best friend is vegetarian and she loves marshmallow fluff.

http://seriouslysoupy.blogspot.com/ Serena @ Seriously Soupy

Amazing. My daughter’s b-day is this weekend and I going to attempt to make these and another type…I hope it works cause I really want to experience one of these beauties.:)

http://www.unplannedcooking.com Unplanned Cooking

Well, maybe not world peace, but they’d definitely bring peace to my boys who have been fighting non stop today :).

http://duodishes.com The Duo Dishes

You can see the little vanilla bean flecks sitting pretty in the frosting. Yum!

http://www.whatthefood.blogspot.com Barb

These look wonderfully delicious. I am going to try and make them gluten free, I will post the results.

These look great, I’ve never tried a recipe with vanilla bean paste before but these look just too good to pass up! Luckily my grocery store carries vanilla bean paste and now is a perfect excuse to finally buy some! Thanks!

harcout breton

This is absolutely sinful. I like the hint of vanilla beans extract here. I could I imagine the scent, just mouth watering. Thanks for the recipe, definitely gonna give it a shot.

Allison

Hi~

I’m making these this morning (they look soooo yummy!), and have a couple of quick questions about the directions. I’m confused about when to add the 4T of melted butter as well as when to add the vanilla:

“In a small bowl cream together the butter (*do I add the 4T butter here?) and sugar until well combined and lighter in color. Add the eggs and melted butter (*or do I add the 4T butter here??) and whisk until completely incorporated into the butter mixture. Whisk in the buttermilk.”

Should the vanilla be added after the buttermilk?

Thanks so much for the recipe!! Can’t wait to try the finished product.

http://www.evilshenanigans.com Kelly

Allison – Fixed the directions. Sorry about that!

Allison

Thanks so much, Kelly! These were unbelievably delicious!!! My husband & all his co-workers loved them (as did I). Awesome recipe.

Kate

@Tara

You could try Ricemallow fluff but regular old Marshmallow Fluff is def safe, too.

And Oooooo do these look amazing!!

http://www.sweetestkitchen.com Jamieanne

I left a comment earlier that I was going to make these and I did yesterday! I used my own recipe to make a chocolate ganache filling because we don’t have Marshmallow Fluff in Australia. I really liked them, the only thing is that they were a bit too sweet for me, the frosting made my teeth hurt! But they were very good, nevertheless!

Cam

What tip do you use to make the frosting swirl on top? Your cupcakes always look so cute!

http://www.evilshenanigans.com Kelly

Cam – I use a large star tip for the frosting. Thank you!!

http://confessions-of-a-serial-baker.blogspot.com/ Goldie

Those look fantastic! I must try this recipe…

http://britleigh24.blogspot.com/ brittany

Where do you find your vanilla bean paste? I live in Texas and have been looking for it. If I cannot find it, can I use equal parts vanilla extract?

http://www.evilshenanigans.com Kelly

Brittany – I get it at Central Market, but Williams Sonoma and other gourmet stores carry it. Yes, you can use regular vanilla measure for measure as a substitute.

Thank you so much for this great recipe. I went out to the next town over to find vanilla bean paste. Luckily, I found it at Kitchen Kapers, and was amazed with the difference in vanilla flavor. The chocolate cream filling and frosting was a hit for my family. Thank you again.

I went out and bought vanilla bean paste just so I could make these and all I can say is ….WOW!!! These are very pretty and easy to make. Very very sweet cupcakes.

anna

yes, i also SPLURGED on the vanilla bean paste and made them for my coworker for her birthday. they were delicious!
question: my icing was WAY too thin for any kind of decorating tip and i only used 3/4 of the milk. how did you get your frosting so stiff to hold the shape?? and my frosting was almost too sweet to eat. any suggestions?

Jennifer

I am making these this weekend for a girl’s night in! Can’t wait to try them!! Having a hard time finding the vanilla bean paste but am going to hit up the central market today or tomorrow. Thank you so much for the step by step pictures!!

http://EvilShenanigans Nancy

I found using a grapefruit cutter handy to cut the center out of the cupcake. This made the perfect size for the filling.

I made these a few days ago and they were very dense. Did I do something wrong or are they supposed to be dense? Thank you!

Josh

Amazing cupcakes! I couldn’t find vanilla bean paste where I live so I split a vanilla bean and did it that way and they turned out great! Thank you for having this blog and for this recipe!

Brittany

Hello!

I brought this cupcakes to work for my graveyard shift and have gotten great feedback. I think the best component of this recipe that I’m going to keep is the frosting – the vanilla bean paste really made a difference. I had to travel a little to find it but I definitely think it’s worth it. The filling and actual cupcake came out pretty good but I’m not the best person to ask since I’m absolutely addicted to chocolate cupcakes with chocolate filling and chocolate frosting…a little much for most. Thanks for the recipe!

I absolutely LOVED the cupcakes, I used a whipped cream cheese icing instead though. I’m want to make these for my daughter’s 1st bday party this Sunday, but my critics wanted to know if I could make a version that was a bit more fluffy… And seeing as how I’m new to all this baking stuff I have NO idea what I’m doing or how to do that! Could you please help me?!

I really want to try this recipe out but I’m unsure of how much butter you mean- it says 1 stick but how much would that be in measurement? Or would that just be one large stick that you buy at the grocery store? Thanks!!

http://www.evilshenanigans.com Kelly

Monica – One stick of butter is 8 tablespoons, or 1/2 a cup. Thanks!

Rupsha

Hi,

I tried this recipe once and, although delicious, they were muffins than cup cakes. The outside was crunchy. How do I get the smooth, slightly glossy and soft finish of your cup cake. FYI, I used milk instead of buttermilk.